Years ago, before there were refrigerators, people used icehouses to keep their food from spoiling. These little buildings had thick walls, no windows and a tightly fitted door. In winter, when lakes were frozen, large blocks of ice were cut and hauled to the icehouse. After being covered with sawdust, the ice could last well into the summer.
One day while working in his icehouse, a man lost a valuable pocket watch. He diligently searched for it, carefully raking through the sawdust. But he couldn’t find it, nor could his friends who helped him in the search. The watch remained lost.
A little boy, hearing about the lost watch, slipped into the icehouse during lunch. A short time later he reappeared with the watch. In surprise, the man asked how he had found it. “I closed the door,” the boy replied, “and lay down on the sawdust and kept very still. Soon, I heard the watch ticking.”
Often we do not hear God’s voice very well. Our time is occupied with busy, often frantic searching for His will. We get frustrated and impatient when we don’t seem to get a response. We may even wonder if God really cares.
But if we want to hear Him, we must not only come into His presence, but we must be quiet too. Our Father tells His children to “be still, and know that I am God” (Psa. 46:1010Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. (Psalm 46:10)). There, in the peace of His blessed presence, we will hear that still, small voice: “This is the way, walk ye in it” (Isa. 30:2121And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left. (Isaiah 30:21)).
K. Heslop